


Everyone Loves a Cheesy Ending

by Krosshair



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: F/M, Shortaki Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27359974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krosshair/pseuds/Krosshair
Summary: After their third Cheese Festival and their first one as a couple, Helga opens up to Arnold about her previous times there as they prepare to leave.
Relationships: Helga Pataki/Arnold Shortman, Phoebe Heyerdahl/Gerald Johanssen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Everyone Loves a Cheesy Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> This is my first venture into the Hey Arnold! fandom, a show I recently rediscovered my love for.
> 
> This story was inspired by a comic drawn by the wonderful artist tapioca.pudding on Instagram, please give her a follow! (she gave me permission to write fics of her comics as long as I gave credit)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"...And so I socked him," Helga finished with a laugh.

Phoebe quietly gasped and reprimanded, "Helga, that's horrible!" while to her left, Gerald bit back a laugh, remembering the time back in fourth grade where Helga had thrown Brainy off that "haunted" train that he, Helga, and Arnold had boarded out of curiosity.

Defensively, Helga responded, "What? He's been stalking me since fourth grade, give me a break over here, Pheebs!"

Putting her free hand to her chin in thought, Phoebe mused, "I suppose that you're right, Helga... but please, I implore that you take Arnold's advice on how to deal with Brainy in a... less violent way, to put it succinctly."

Tightening his grip on her hand ever so slightly, Arnold looked towards Helga and calmly asked, "You're still seeing Dr. Bliss, right?" Helga silently nodded, and Arnold smiled before continuing, "Good, I'm glad that you are..."

The four friends walked out of the gate that had led them to the Cheese Festival earlier in the day, and Gerald turned to Arnold before extending his left hand for their signature handshake, the football-headed kid reciprocating wholeheartedly. Once the two finished, Gerald said, "I'm gonna walk Phoebe home, see y'all at school tomorrow!" waving in Arnold and Helga's direction as he and Phoebe began to walk back to their houses.

Helga let go of Arnold's hand for a moment to cup her hands around her mouth and playfully yell, "You'd better treat her well, Tall-Hair Boy, or I'm gonna cut that hair of yours down to size the next time I see you!" Next to her, Arnold suppressed a chuckle, him and Phoebe being frequent observers of the friendly banter that their respective partners got into on a near-daily basis.

For his part, Gerald didn't seem to be fazed at all by Helga's threat and laughed while flashing a thumbs-up at the two blondes, while next to him, Phoebe giggled and chirped, "See you guys at school tomorrow!" before jogging to catch up with Gerald, who had managed to outpace her slightly.

Once Gerald and Phoebe had rounded a corner and were out of their line of sight, Arnold extended his right hand out towards Helga, who took it. Rubbing his head with his free hand, Arnold shyly asked, "Is it okay if I walk you home too, Helga?"

"Whatever floats your boat, Arnold," was Helga's seemingly indifferent verbal response, but internally she was swooning over her boyfriend's actions, thinking, _"Oh, Arnold! So gallant, so noble, wanting to make sure that little old me gets home safely! I love hi-"_

Helga's internal monologue was interrupted by Arnold saying, "I had a really great time with you here, Helga..."

Raising her unibrow at his tone, Helga slyly responded, "Oh? You sound pretty surprised, Arnoldo."

Realizing what she was implying, Arnold hastily corrected, "W-well, I don't mean it like that... it's just that the last two times that I went here, everything always seemed to go wrong no matter what I did." Oddly, Arnold felt Helga stiffen next to him once the words had come out of his mouth, and she was suddenly looking nervous... afraid, even.

"Heh, r-really? It sucks to hear that, Football Head... but it doesn't matter now, right?"

Turning to face Helga, Arnold smiled and placed his free hand on his chest, saying, "Yeah, you're right, Helga, the only thing that matters now is tonight. I'm really glad that we got to come here together as a couple."

A deep blush had worked its way onto Helga's face, and her eyes began to nervously flit around, looking for some kind of distraction from Arnold as she stammered, "Um... well, g-gee, Foot- I mean, A-Arnold... I-I'm glad too, I had a blast with y-"

Before Helga could finish her sentence, however, the lights around them went out, plunging the couple in darkness. Letting out a chuckle, Arnold observed, "They're closing already? Guess time really flies by when you're having fun... c'mon Helga, let's go home." As he turned to look at his girlfriend, Arnold saw, much to his shock, that her azure eyes were brimming with fresh tears as she was trying her best to not break down in front of him. His tone switching to one of concern, Arnold whispered, "Helga?"

It was then that Helga burst into tears, and Arnold frantically began asking, "W-What's wrong? Why are you crying? Was it something I said? I'm sor-"

"Oh, shut up, Football Head, it's not like that at all." Helga then began to wipe her eyes with her free hand, and once she was done, she removed her other hand from Arnold's grasp and clutched at her own arm, not bothering to look her love in the eyes as she began, "It's just... the darkness, it... reminds me of the last two times I was here. The first time, you were still over the moon for Ruth, the second time was when you were going gaga over Lila, a-and I was so jealous, there was nothing I could do..." Helga took a brief moment to look Arnold in the eye, and she noticed that a pang of guilt had made its way onto his face, which made her feel even worse. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked back down at the ground and continued, "N-No matter what I did, I thought at the end... I'd just be that angry, bitter, and lonely girl who would forever be alone in the dark..." Pausing to sniffle, she then continued, "But now you're here with me, we're together as a couple- oh criminy, how could I not get emotional over this?! I'm such a basket case!"

Arnold took Helga's hands in his own and tenderly began, "I'm sorry that you had to deal with that by yourself... and I'm sorry for hurting you even if it was unintentional..."

"Oh, c-come on Football Head, you don't need to-"

"...Maybe it's a bit too late for me to say this, but from now on, I want you to know that I will _always_ be here for you, Helga... I don't ever want you to feel that way again." Arnold then pulled himself closer to Helga, who leaned down to meet his lips in a soft, tender kiss. Once they broke apart, Arnold, a blush having come across his face, said, "Thank you for tonight, Helga, I'd really love to come here with you again next year," with her making an indistinct sound that seemed to agree with what Arnold had said.

As the two of them began to walk home together, Arnold looked at Helga and remarked, "You know, Helga, I didn't think you were watching me that closely back then."

Helga laughed and replied, "Oh, there's a lot of things you don't know about me, bucko... but I think I've opened myself up to you enough for tonight, so let's save it for some other time, okay, Football Head?"

Arnold gave her that half-lidded stare he knew she adored and answered, "Whatever you say, Helga," leaning over to kiss her on the cheek as they continued to walk away from the site of the Cheese Festival.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you've enjoyed this, I've been meaning to widen my variety as a writer for quite a while!


End file.
